Rational Thinking — Now More than Ever!
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
Other biblical creationists and I emphasize rational (critical) thinking, and to use it plus healthy skepticism. Such thinking is not just for sciences or academic purposes, but is helpful every day. We use it daily to some degree or another, often without realizing it.
If you will mount up and ride the trail with me, I will provide a fun piece, some examples from feral atheists, a bit of strange pseudoscience, then move onto more specific ways that we use logic every day — and why such thinking is extremely important right now.
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| Woman thinking by water, Pexels / Engin Akyurt |
On occasion, sure, an important decision needs to be made instantly. In those times, hopefully you're in a good position to make the right choice, with knowledge and wisdom from God (one can always "beam" a silent prayer in addition). Also, we may have built up knowledge of the choices involved in making such decisions.
An Easy Example
Some folks might get spooked about logic like a horse by a rattlesnake on the prairie, but there's no need to get agitated. Remember that logical thinking is not just for scientists and academicians. As I write this, Halloween is coming up.
There's a captioned picture with an assertion about how something happens for the first time in 666 years. It's funny, and people who simply believe stuff on teh interwebs and and share it because it "wows" them should be embarrassed. Have some fun with my short article, "Bobbing for Halloween Fallacies."
Assertions are not Evidence
Atheists and other evolutionists are fond of making assertions as if they were facts. Quite often, they are naturalistic assumptions with no evidence but treated as if they were rebuttals to creation science.
Creation Ministries International had a post on Fakebook regarding dinosaur false tissues, and Dan Martin had comments that were amazingly absurd assertions without evidence. In addition, he had no interest in dealing with the topic. When challenged, he attacked another commenter and accused him of doing what he himself was doing. Apparently, he's right. Because atheism.
There are other places where I've read and heard outrageous claims such as how religion originated, but from a materialist viewpoint, there is no way of backing up their assertions. Just ask, "Were you there?" How do they know what ancient alleged evolutionary ancestors did, or the thought processes of early man? Is there an eyewitness account, or forensic evidence? Nope. Assumptions based on their materialist presuppositions do not provide answers.
Some folks think that because something is in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, it is a guarantee of truth and accuracy. (I will not take the time to go over problems with peer review again, but if you've a mind to, you can examine these posts.) Well, a prestigious journal released an article about how the ocean is a living entity, and entitled to legal rights. Yes, really! You can read a discussion on that here. The proponents were people with the Earth Law Center. I have a question: What about when the ocean acts up and destroys property or kills people, where can someone file a grievance?
Insufficient Evidence
In "Angry Atheists Exterminate Reason," one thing I discussed was how an angry atheopath used the fallacy of exclusion/suppressed/ignored evidence. He said not to bother watching a certain video, viewed it a few seconds, and ridiculed it. Like Dan Martin mentioned above, he was not interested in learning, but only expressing his opinion (Prov. 18:2 NIV).
Like many atheists and evolutionists today, he was not interested in rational discourse. Indeed, it is common to see them oppose freedom of speech and freedom of thought. It's who they are and what they do. Here is another one that was found in an Amazon book review:
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| Used under federal Fair Use provisions for educational purposes (click for larger) |
He dismissed the entire book based on a sample. Can you imagine people like this testifying in a court of law?
Denial of Observed Facts
Materialists believe that everything came from nothing. They have to. (A main difference between that and the Christian view is that Bible-believing Christians know that God is the Creator, and he is not subject to space, time, and physicality.) Most atheists admit, albeit uncomfortably, that they believe it, but one lied outright and said that he knows of no atheists that believe this. Yes, I called him a liar because I schooled him on this several times myself.
No True Atheist
There is a fallacy known as the No True Scotsman, which is an ad hoc rescuing device and a combination of other fallacies such as Moving the Goalposts, Ambiguity, and others. In "No True Atheist," I discuss the original fallacy and then described how they try to pull the wool over our eyes by saying that real atheists don't do certain things. One was kind enough to give a blatant illustration.
There was a post about how someone went from an atheist to being a pastor (in fact, many biblical creation scientists are former evolutionists, and even atheists). The misotheist in charge had a "yeah, but" link about someone going the other way — which ignores the content of the post he was ridiculing. In the comments, one of Darwin's Special Children (they have pledge drives and rumor has it that C. Richard Dawkins is being sought to lead the next one) made a comment —
"You made that last part up, Cowboy Bob!"
Yup. It was to point out that atheists portray themselves as intellectually superior to theists, but many are weaker thinkers than most other atheists. He has a history of making inane and bigoted remarks. Here is his No True Atheist remark:
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| Used under federal Fair Use provisions for educational purposes |
Common Threads and Today's Importance
Here's the payoff. Although I used examples from my areas of creation science, logical fallacies, and the refutation of atheism, take a look around you. Making assertions and pretending they are truth, suppressing evidence, denying observed facts, variations of No True Scotsman are not the exclusive domain of evolutionists and atheists, nosiree!
Such fallacies are found all over the place. Christians do it, but we should be above that and honor God in our thinking and reasoning. These fallacies and more are found when watching and hearing the news. I have to tell you, though, that when I'm called a racist because I'm white, that we live in a systemic racist culture, and that blacks cannot be racists because they are "victims" (meaning, they are too impotent to make something of themselves because of leftist decrees)...I get a mite ornery. How do Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans feel, anyway, since these things are portrayed as black versus white, and they are inconsequential.
What do we do in such cases? Ask the obvious questions: How do you know? By what standard? By whose authority do you change the definition of racist? Why should I believe your opinion? What are the facts supporting your claim?
Watch out for distractions and attempts to put you on the defensive.
That's just one current example. Shall I move on to anthropogenic climate change? Nah, but asking questions and holding activists' and politicians' feet to the fire when they make claims can be used in many other situations. Let me caution you, though, to use caution. Going on the offensive when it's really not needed can easily be counterproductive. Otherwise, don't be buffaloed. God gave us minds and he expects us to use them.